“As a gay man I look at that and say there’s a hopelessness that surrounds it,” Quinto states, “but as a human being I look at it and say ‘Why? Where’s this disparity coming from, and why can’t we as a culture and society dig deeper to examine that?’ We’re terrified of facing ourselves.”

Quinto posted a blog on his website Sunday morning to discuss why he decided to come out as a gay man.

“When I found out that Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself — I felt deeply troubled,” Quinto writes. “But when I found out that Jamey Rodemeyer had made an ‘It Gets Better’ video only months before taking his own life — I felt indescribable despair.”